Moments
by ridiculouslyoptimistic
Summary: Over the course of 20 years, Austin and Ally have shared many memorable moments. Auslly.


So this is just a little idea I had. Each bolded number represents an age and with each age is a short drabble of a moment of Austin and Ally's life at that age. I like the idea, so I went with it. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Austin and Ally.

Also, it's a little AUish. Dez and Trish aren't mentioned and Austin and Ally have known each other since they were children. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

**5**

She loves Saturdays; they're the day she gets to wake up super early, sit on the couch scooping large spoonful after spoonful of sugary cereal into her mouth as she watches the morning cartoons.

Expect today was different. Just as she settles back into the large leather couch, her mother enters the room in a frantic state and switches off the television.

"Mom," Ally pouts, "It's Saturday."

"I know, sweetie," her mom sighs, "But the new neighbors are moving in this morning and your father and I promised we'd help out. Can you be a good girl and go change and come help?"

Groaning, she rises from the couch and puts away her empty cereal bowl before going to her room to pull on shorts and a t-shirt. A few minutes later, she emerges through the front door of the house and stands on her tip toes in search of her parents. She finds them chatting easily with a man and woman beside the moving van next door.

Suddenly overcome with shyness, she stands awkwardly by the door, waiting for her parents to call her over. Unfortunately, before they can, she's hit in the head with a basketball.

She glares at the orange orb that dare invade her personal space and picks it up as she searches for the person to whom it belongs.

A boy about her age comes running forward. He's got soft blonde hair and the most dazzling brown eyes she's ever seen and she's left momentarily breathless when he stretches his lips into a smile.

"Hiya," he greets her, giving her a friendly wave. "My name's Austin. I just moved in next door. Sorry I hit you with my ball."

Out of politeness, she should have immediately forgiven him and introduced herself, but she's still too put off by his unintended intrusion of her space to be forgiving, so she shoves the ball into his arms and turns on her heel, huffing as she storms back into her house because she can't believe she gave up her Saturday morning cartoons for this.

But that night, as she tries to fall asleep, all she can think about is dazzling chocolate eyes.

**6**

She sighs in frustration. The incessant bouncing of Austin's basketball is distracting her from her reading. Rolling her eyes for the hundredth time, she sighs heavily as she lowers her book to glare at him.

"Do you have to do that right here?" she asks in her sweetest voice.

He stops bouncing the ball for a moment, holding at his hip with his elbow as he comes to stand in front of her, peering over the top of her book.

"Whatcha doing?" he asks curiously.

"Reading," she replies, turning her attention back to her book, "You should try it some time."

There's a moment of silence as he contemplates the offer before shaking his head. "Or you could come play with me."

She looks up from her book, completely ready to reject his request, but finds herself unable to speak when their gazes meet. Once again, his dazzling eyes leave her breathless and she can't bring herself to refuse.

So for the first time since they'd met a year before, Ally puts down her book and does something Austin wants to do.

**7**

They lay under the tree in her backyard, staring up at the stars. Under normal circumstances, her parents probably wouldn't let her have a sleepover with a boy. But Austin wasn't a normal boy.

Austin was…well, Austin. They were friends, something she didn't think was possible because they were so different.

But somehow it worked.

They point up at various constellations in the sky, making up names for the shapes they find and giggling when they sound silly.

She turns her head to the side, watching as he scrunches his face in concentration and searches for a new group of stars.

"Austin?" she asks quietly, because something's been bothering her. That morning she had watched the teenage girl from across the street blush and giggle after her lips touched a boy's and Ally wasn't sure why. Maybe Austin knew the answer. He was much better acquainted with the real world than she.

He turns to face her, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Why do boys and girls touch lips?"

He shrugs, turning on his side. "I don't know. Do you wanna try it?"

Before she can respond, he leans towards her, squeezing his eyes shut and puckering out his lips. She watches in horror as his mouth nears and rolled away before they could touch, running into the house and leaving him to fall flat on his stomach.

There was no way she would ever want to kiss Austin.

**8**

This is her least favorite part of the day. School is usually where she feels the most comfortable, but not here. She's fine during class, raising her hand and answering questions, but out here, she is completely out of her element.

Out here, she is supposed to socialize, be friendly and not awkward, neither of which she is particularly good at.

So she sits at her lunch table alone, quietly eating her peanut butter sandwich as she watches the other kids laugh with their friends. Across the cafeteria, she spots Austin, who sits surrounded by a group of kids, chatting happily.

They make eye contact across the room and she lifts a hand nervously in a wave. He grins and beckons for her to come join him, but she shrugs and shakes her head because she doesn't know any of his friends.

He looks momentarily disappointed, but soon dives back into the conversation as she finishes off the last of her sandwich. Just as she's about to open her pudding cup, she feels a presence join her at the table.

Looking up, she raises her eyebrows in surprise when she sees Austin settle himself across from her and take a large bite out of burger.

"What are you doing?" she asks, completely bewildered.

"Eating lunch with you," he replies as though it's the most obvious response in the world.

She blinks, confused. "But what about your friends?"

He laughs and takes another bite of his burger. "You are my friend."

**9**

She's not one to get mad. In general, she thinks she has a pretty good handle on her emotions.

But Harmony's high pitched voice is causing her to shiver in revulsion. She tosses a strawberry blonde curl over her shoulder as she stares at Ally smugly.

"You're such a freak," she says, which inexplicably causes her little friends to start giggling.

Ally rolls her eyes and tries to focus on her book, hoping this girl will just leave her in peace for the rest of recess.

Unfortunately, she finds to solitude, as a shadow is cast over her reading material and she looks up to find that Austin has joined the conversation.

Harmony's demeanor immediately switches from haughty to delicate and she smiles sweetly at the blonde boy, twisting a curl around her finger.

"Hi, Austin," she coos, batting her eyelashes. "Are you coming to my birthday party this weekend?"

For some reason Ally couldn't quite comprehend, Austin had every girl at this school wrapped around his finger.

Austin looks from Harmony to Ally, back to Harmony. "Is Ally coming?"

Harmony looks absolutely disgusted at the thought. "She's not invited."

Austin shrugs and takes a seat beside Ally on the bench. "Then I guess I'm not either."

Harmony gapes at them for a moment before storming away.

Laughing, Ally turns towards her friend. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course, I did," he replies, placing an arm around the back of the bench, "You and I, we're a package deal."

**10**

Her stomach is coiled into knots and she hates the feeling. She doesn't know why she feels this way. Austin's talked to plenty of girls, so him talking to Molly shouldn't be any different.

But it is different. It's different because she's never seen him blush and look at the ground and giggle so much when he's talking to a girl. He's usually so calm and collected, but around Molly it's almost as if he turns into…well, Ally.

He's awkward and uncomfortable, though Molly doesn't seem to mind. She reaches out and takes Austin's hand, intertwining their fingers as they walk home together.

Ally watches from behind, following them silently from a distance, clenching her hands into fists and wondering what it means that she wishes she could be the only one to make him blush.

**11**

It's weird, the fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She's always been awkward around boys, but with Dallas it's as though she loses all ability to be a functioning human being.

She can't form proper words and she finds herself just nodding and smiling to everything she says because she's too afraid of speaking and ruining the moment. She blushes profusely when he leans down to kiss her on the cheek and holds in a squeal as he walks away.

She notices everything about his gait and the way he flips his hair, but she fails to notice the blonde haired boy standing nearby, watching her with a look of extreme jealousy on his face.

**12**

She watches in awe as he spins on his heels and lands in perfect ending pose, nodding his head with a cocky smirk on his lips because he knows what he just did was extremely impressive. Laughing, she claps loudly and cheers.

"You're such a good dancer, Austin," she smiles.

"You're not so bad yourself," he replies, more out of politeness than actual honesty.

She rolls her eyes. "You don't have to say that. You know I'm an awful dancer."

He laughs and shrugs, shoving his hands in his jean pockets, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot as a slow song comes on.

"Is that why you're not out there right now?" he asks, nodding towards the dance floor, where the rest of their classmates were currently engaged in arm's length slow dances.

"That," she pauses, "And nobody's asked me to dance."

"Well," he smiles widely, holding out a hand, "We'll have to change that won't we? Come on, Ally. Dance with me."

She can't protest because she's never been able to resist that sparkle in his eyes, so she slips her hand into his and sighs as she melts comfortably into his body, resting her head on his shoulder. He hums the tune of the song softly into her ear as they sway and all she can thank is that she's exactly where she's supposed to be.

**13**

"I can't believe you talked me into this," she sighs as she settles back onto the couch and clutches the bowl of popcorn to her chest. "You know I hate scary movies."

"Come on," he nudges her with his shoulder as he plops down next to her, "Give it a chance. You might actually like it."

"I highly doubt that," she scoffs as he presses play.

Still, despite her determination to hate horror movies, she finds herself enthralled by the action and suspense and she's soon perched on the edge of the couch as she watches the main character creep slowly towards a slightly ajar door.

"Don't go in there," Ally whispers as the man on the screen pushes open the door.

Just as she suspected, his entrance into the room is followed by a blood curdling scream as he's dragged into the darkness. Ally lets out a shriek, grabbing Austin's hand, which lay just beside the now empty bowl of popcorn.

He looks down at their connected hands in confusion, but intertwines their fingers nonetheless and gives her a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry," he says, "I'm right here."

She takes comfort in that fact and returns her attention to the movie, neither of them noticing that they continued to hold hands for the rest of the movie.

**14**

"See that one?" he points up towards a line of stars, "That one's the Big Dipper."

She's pretty sure he's wrong, but she doesn't say anything because he seems so proud of himself. It's been much too long since they've done this: laid in the backyard and stared up at the sky. She likes the fact that they can instantly return to be children in a second.

Turning to her side, she props herself up on her elbow and waits for him to mimic her position.

"Do you remember that one time we were lying out here and I asked you what kissing was?" she laughs when he turns to face her.

"Yeah," he says, "And you ran when I tried to show you."

"I was just scared," she sighs.

Nodding, he chews on his bottom lip and stares at her. "So, if I was to kiss you now, you wouldn't run?"

She blushes in the darkness and leans a little closer, lessening the gap between them and staring straight into his eyes. "I guess you'll have to try and find out."

Lifting the corners of his lips, he leans in and kisses her softly and she smiles as she returns the pressure and when she pulls away, she's dizzy and giddy, wondering how even in the dead of night, two eyes could shine so bright.

**15**

This is where she thinks best: at the piano. After everything that's happened recently, she really needs some time to clear her head.

It's nothing bad, really. In fact, it's all rather wonderful. When she first met Austin, she never in a million years would have predicted that they would end up dating or that she would be so utterly happy all the time.

Smiling to herself, she tinkers with the keys, constructing a rough melody off the top of her head. Lately, all she seems to be able to do is write love songs. Not that she minds. They're her favorite kind.

The door to her practice room opens and she smiles instantly when Austin enters and slides into the piano bench beside her.

"Hey," she greets him softly.

Lifting one side of his mouth into a smile, he leans over and presses a kiss to her cheek, grinning widely as he pulls away.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Just messing around," she says.

He nods, placing his fingers over the keys and imitating the melody she was playing just moments before. "It sounded good; whatever you were playing."

"You think?" she smiles. "I'm not sure about this particular chord progression."

He listens intently as she plays the notes in question, his tongue poking through his lips in concentration. When she's finished, he thinks for a moment before his eyes light as though he's had an epiphany.

"Why don't try this?"

He plays a similar set of notes in a slightly different order and it ends up sounding a lot happier than the tune she'd originally played. Smiling, she nods as she copies the melody and laughs when she's done.

"Thanks," she says, making note of the new chords in her songbook.

He tries to peek and she covers the pages on instinct, pressing her lips together to hold in laughter and shaking her head at him.

"Am I ever going to get to see?" he practically begs, jutting out his bottom lip.

She smiles softly as she closes the book and holds it close to her chest. "Maybe someday."

**16**

She can't believe she's about to do this. But then, she's always had a weakness for Austin's eyes. One look into those sparkling chocolate orbs and she's a goner.

So when he comes up to her flustered and freaked out and begs her to sing with him, she's at a loss to do anything but agree. In all honesty, it makes the most sense because she's the only other person in the world who knows the song, but her stage fright has always gotten the best of her.

She stares wide eyed at the closed curtain, her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing nearly erratic as she tries to convince herself that she can, in fact, perform live to a room full of people.

A wide palm on her back causes her breathing to slow just slightly and she stretches her lips into what she hopes is a convincing smile as she stares up at Austin.

"You can do this," he assures her, pulling her into a tight embrace. She melts into his arms and prays that he's right.

He kisses the top of her head as he pulls away, cupping her cheeks between his palms. "I believe in you, alright? You can do this."

She wants to believe him, she really does, but the rapid pace of her heart beat is telling her otherwise.

"Ally."

She looks at him once more as the curtains begin to pull open.

"I'm right here. I'll always be right here."

Strangely enough, those words are the ones that keep her from running off the stage in fear.

**17**

"Austin?" she calls out as she walks through his front door.

She hears him call out from the kitchen and weaves her way through his house to find him standing behind the counter, covered in flour.

"What are you doing?" she laughs, shaking her head as she surveys the mess.

"I was hungry, so I thought I'd make pancakes," he explained as though it was the world's most obvious explanation.

Pressing her lips together, she smiles and nods. "Would you like some help?"

He sighs in relief, moving over to allow her to take her place beside him. They work inefficiently, getting distracted and tossing handfuls of flour at each other as they attempt to make the batter. Once the batter is made and the appropriate amount of chocolate chips are added, she turns to him and rolls her eyes.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" she laughs as she pours the first spoonful of batter.

"You're the best," he grins, leaning down to capture her lips with his for a sweet kiss.

She smiles, pecking him once more before filling the rest of the griddle. "You're lucky I love you."

He wraps his arms around her from behind, holding her close to his chest and resting his chin atop her head as they wait for the pancakes to cook.

"Yeah, I am."

**18**

"It's freezing," she chatters, her teeth shaking as she scoots closer to the fireplace.

Their plans for a romantic night had quickly taken a disastrous turn.

For their anniversary, Austin had planned a fantastic date at his parent's lake house, complete with a moonlight picnic and some fireside cuddling. Unfortunately, the weather was refusing to cooperate. They'd arrived at the cabin in the midst of a torrential rainstorm to find the power out and the generators broken.

They were able to salvage some of their food and managed to get the fireplace going, and thus they found themselves huddled together for warmth as they waited for the storm to pass.

"I'm so sorry about this, Alls," he says.

She turns from her place in his arms, tilting her chin to kiss his jaw softly before sinking back into his chest and relishing in the warmth.

"It's alright," she assures him softly, "I'm just glad we're together."

His arms tighten around her, pulling her further back into his chest and he rests his chin on her shoulder.

"I love you, you know," he whispers against her ear.

"I know," she sighs, closing her eyes. She shifts slightly, her palm coming to rest on the floor and touching something smooth and plastic.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she closes her fingers around a small square package and holds it up to her front, turning to look at her boyfriend.

Austin's eyes widen in horror and his lips part as he tries to explain.

"That's not what you think it is," he finally spits out.

"It's not?" she laughs, "It looks like a condom to me."

"That's because that's what it is," he sighs, failing miserably at coming up with a more eloquent explanation. "Ally, I wasn't expecting anything."

She sees the opportunity to tease him even further, but decides he's suffered enough. Turning, she sits cross legged between his legs, fiddling with the silver packet in her hands.

"I was…" she whispers.

His gaze shoots up to meet hers and his lips part but he doesn't speak. Laughing awkwardly, she shrugs.

"We've been dating for three years," she says, "It was bound to happen eventually. I just wasn't really sure how to bring it up."

Blinking, he glances down at her hands before looking her in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nods, keeping his gaze. "I'm sure."

His lips lift into a soft smile and he leans forward to kiss her, one hand rising to cup her cheek as the other slowly reaches out to tug on the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head.

"You're beautiful," he whispers and as they remove the remainder of their clothes and for the first time in her life, she actually believes him.

**19**

She calls him out of habit. Every morning on this day since she was six, she'd talked to him, so why would today be any different?

_Of course it's different, _she thinks to herself as the phone rings, _You're not together anymore. _

He picks up after three rings, his voice as cheery as ever when he answers. "Hello?"

"Hey, Austin," she says a little too brightly, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, Ally" he laughs. Despite the fact that they're no longer dating, he still sounds friendly and she mentally slaps herself for thinking it would ever be otherwise. Austin is still one of her best friends and nothing is going to change that.

Originally, she had ended things because she didn't want to have to deal with the drama of a long distance relationship once they were in college. But now that she thinks about it, maybe it would be worth it after all.

"How are you celebrating?" she asks.

"The usual," he says, "My parents have some sort of big dinner planned. Speaking of which, I gotta go get ready. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright," she sighs, wishing she could say something to make him stay longer.

"Hey, Ally?"

"Yeah?" she holds her breath.

"Thanks for calling."

"Always," she says as he hangs up, because she knows no matter what, she'll always call on this day.

**20**

Despite the loud and excited chatter surrounding her, she's never felt lonelier. She supposes it's her fault that she feels this way. After all, she was the one who wanted to break up.

_It's better this way_, she keeps telling herself. Long distance relationships never work. They'd tried, for months, but eventually it had ended just as she'd predicted.

They got tired of constantly missing each other's calls and never having time to talk and always having other plans. But despite the fact that she should feel free, all she feels is sad and alone because the truth is, even being with Austin when they're both miserable is better than not being with him at all.

Sighing, she bids her friends goodbye and pulls her coat on as she walks back to her dorm room. It's cold and windy, weather she absolutely hates, but she had learned to deal with because going to the best music school in the country meant she had to make sacrifices. He'd gotten into this school as well, but he'd chosen to stay closer to home.

As much as she respected his decision, she wishes things were different. Pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket, she scrolls through her contact list, pausing when his name his highlighted. It takes all of her willpower not to press the call button.

"I miss you," she whispers to the name on the screen, wishing for the millionth time that she could one day have the courage to say it to him in person.

**21**

"Hit me," she smiles at the bartender after downing her last vodka shot.

The burly man behind the bar slides another shot glass across the bar top and grins. "Last one, alright? I think you've had enough."

She sticks out her tongue. "Come on! It's my birthday."

He laughs and shakes his head. "Fine. One more after this, but that's it."

Grinning triumphantly, she gulps down the new shot and turns to find her friends, only to run smack into someone's chest.

"Ally?"

She looks up, blinking rapidly to clear her vision, her eyes widening when she finally sets sights on Austin.

"Austin!" she squeals, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"Hey," he laughs, squeezing her into a quick hug before pulling back. "Celebrating, are we? Happy birthday, by the way."

"You remembered!" she exclaims, gripping his biceps to keep her balance.

"Of course I remembered," he says, "I called you this morning, but you didn't pick up, so I thought I'd come surprise you."

"That's so sweet," she sighs, the alcohol slowly wearing off, being replaced by an entirely new emotion.

He shrugs. "You know I'm always here for you."

She nods as she regains her ability to stand straight. "I know. Thanks for coming."

"Any time," he grins, "So good birthday so far?"

She tilts her head to the side as she studies him for a moment, getting lost in those dazzling eyes as a slow smile stretches her lips.

"Yeah," she nods, "One of the best."

**22**

"Have you seen my green sweater?" she asks from inside the closet, sorting through the boxes that have yet to be unpacked.

After getting back together, they decided to take a leap of faith and move in together. She was loving it so far, despite the fact that she no longer knew where anything was.

"Did you check the dryer?" he calls out from somewhere else in the apartment.

Rolling her eyes, she pads towards the laundry room, hair wet and wrapped in a towel because she can't seem to find any of her clothes.

He's sitting on the couch, playing his newest video game when she walks by and he licks his lips when he sees her attire.

She sends him a sultry wink before digging through the clothes in the dryer and triumphantly pulling out her favorite sweater. Before she can turn to head back to the bedroom, long arms wrap around her waist and lips attach themselves to her neck.

"What do you need clothes for?" he mumbles against her skin, "You can just wear this all time."

"Wear nothing?" she laughs, turning in his embrace and locking her arms around his neck.

"Exactly," he says, his eyes flashing wickedly as he leans down to kiss her.

Chuckling, she tosses her sweater back on the dryer and melts into his arms. Perhaps clothes were overrated after all.

**23**

She shouldn't be doing this; she promised him she wouldn't, but she couldn't help herself. It was much too enticing. Besides, she had to see what all the fuss was about. Surely, Austin was overreacting.

Now that he was solidified as a pop superstar, he had his fair share of fans. Fans who were not so happy that he was currently engaged to his songwriter partner. In an effort to protect her, he'd begged her not look herself up online because he was afraid she'd be wounded by the harsh words his fans said.

But of course, she ignored this request and searched herself anyways. Sure enough, she was soon sitting wide eyed in horror as she read through pages and pages of rants calling her vile names, saying she didn't deserve him, and saying she didn't deserve to live.

Finally unable to take it any longer, she shuts the laptop and blinks back tears, wondering what she ever did to deserve such awful treatment. He arrives home a few minutes later to find her staring blankly at the wall, crying silently.

"Ally?" he whispers, kneeling by her side and placing a comforting hand on her knee. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Austin," she hiccups, "I know you told me not to, but I looked."

He understands immediately what she means and pulls her into his lap on the floor, cradling her in his arms as he presses soft kisses to her hair.

"It's alright," he hushes her, holding her close. "I'm sorry that you had to see that."

"I don't understand," she sobs, turning her face into his chest, "What did I ever do to them?"

"Nothing," he strokes her hair, "You didn't do anything wrong. I promise. They're just jealous because I love you so much."

"I don't understand," she repeats, melting into his body and allowing the gentle strokes of his hand on her hair coupled with the repeated kisses he presses to her scalp to soothe her.

"All you need to understand," he whispers against her hair, "Is that I'm not going anywhere. No matter what they say, nothing is going to tear us apart."

"You promise?" she says, her eyes closed.

She feels him nod against the top of her head.

"I promise."

**24**

"Perfect," she says to herself as she positions the picture frame on top of the mantle.

It's her favorite one taken of their wedding day. They're laughing as pieces of cake soar through the air because Austin's best man somehow sent the entire cake tray flying. The picture is by no means professional or posed, but she likes it for exactly that reason. In a completely candid moment, they look perfectly happy.

"That looks great, babe," he says as he comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks!" she exclaims turning to grin up at him with a secretive smile. "I have a present for you."

"Oh yeah?" he raises his brows excitedly. "Where is it?"

Taking a step back, she holds out her arms and gestures to her body. "Find it."

Shooting her a quizzical look, he steps forward and places his hands at her hips. She shakes her head guiding his hands until they're resting on top of her stomach and smiling widely as realization strikes.

"You're…we're…I'm?" he stutters.

Laughing, she nods and blinks back tears of joy. "I'm pregnant, Austin."

"I'm going to be a father?" he says in disbelief.

She nods as he scoops her into an embrace and presses multiple kisses to her lips.

"We're going to be a family."

**25**

_It doesn't get better than this,_ she thinks as she stares out at the sunset.

Austin lazily wraps an arm around her shoulders as she leans back against the park bench. Smiling, he presses a kiss to her cheek before leaning down to do the same to the newborn baby in her arms.

"He's perfect," he sighs, stroking his son's cheek softly. "Just like his mother."

Blushing, she turns to gaze into her husband's eyes, once again getting lost in those dazzling pools of chocolate. He kisses her softly on the lips before turning his attention back to the sunset and she rests her head on his shoulder.

"It doesn't get any better than this."


End file.
